Strictly Confidential
by nithila
Summary: AU. Everyone has secrets. Some are just more dangerous than others. / Suzaku Kururugi, a retired surgeon from the British Army, rooms with the consulting detective Lelouch Lamperouge. As he watches him solve case after case, the past catches up with them, just like it always does.


**This is not the first Code Geass fic I've written, but it is the first one I've posted. It's based on BBC Sherlock, but the plot is entirely different. It will not follow the series plot at all.  
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**I hope you like it.**

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><p><em>Blood. Battle. Scars. For three years, there was nothing else. None of them knew what they were fighting for. Or what they were fighting against. It was more of a routine now. Try to kill. Try not to die.<em>

"_Do you want to talk about it?" His therapist asked._

"_No," Suzaku said. He hoped the conversation would end there._

_Of course it didn't. That was too much to ask for._

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><p>"I heard you're looking for a flatmate," Rivalz told him, as he stirred his coffee with his straw. "I think I know a place, but I'm not sure if you'll like it."<p>

Suzaku leaned back against his chair, setting down his own empty cup. "Why would you say that?"

Rivalz shifted uncomfortably. "Well, the man staying there is a bit…creepy."

Suzaku frowned. "Creepy?"

"Yeah," Rivalz laughed nervously, glancing around the cafe once to see if anyone was listening to him. "He's not very sociable, and, well, he really freaks me out. He's a detective, you see, but he doesn't work full time - he calls himself a _consulting_ detective."

"O…kay?" He'd never heard of consulting detectives before. But then again, he'd been up on the warfront for the past three years. There was quite a lot he hadn't heard of. For example, the caffe marocchino he'd just finished drinking. It had been good. Maybe the consulting detective would be good too.

Rivalz took a sip of his coffee. "One of my friends - Milly Ashford, I don't think you know her - she's the landlady of the place, and there's only one other apartment. The two of them practically grew up with each other, so she knows him pretty well. Apparently the guy's been looking for a flatmate, so…I thought you might want to…" He smiled sheepishly. "To tell you the truth, Milly put me up to this. She said she'd make my life miserable if I didn't find him a flatmate."

Suzaku cracked a grin, and Rivalz made a face. "Anyway, do you want to meet him?"

Suzaku shrugged. It couldn't hurt to try.

"Great!" his friend beamed. "He'll probably be at the morgue right now. We could go see him!"

Suzaku started. "…why would he be at a morgue?"

Rivalz shook his head. "He says it's for work, but it's best not to know. I told you, he's creepy."

"Right. What's his name?"

Rivalz glanced around once more to make sure they seemed inconspicuous. "Lelouch," he told him. "Lelouch Lamperouge."

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><p>Rivalz was a doctor at St. Bartholomew's, so they had no issues getting into the morgue. There, they found a tall, dark haired man in a black coat standing with his back to them, conversing quietly with a red haired girl. The girl was glaring at him and shaking her head indignantly.<p>

"No way, Lelouch," she was saying. "I have better things to do than dig out a person's innards."

So the man, it seemed, was his possible roommate. He hadn't yet noticed their presence, and was instead focused on proving his point to the girl. "A _dead_ person," he corrected, before adding helpfully, "And I wouldn't mind doing it myself, if you want."

The red head shook her head again. "No way. You'd never get the authorization."

"Please, Kallen," Lelouch tried, not sounding very pleading at all, "It's important for one of my cases."

'Kallen' scoffed at him, throwing her hands up in the air. "Of course. Pray tell, _Detective_ Lamperouge, what case involves testing chemicals in a dead person's intestines?"

"I would tell you," Lelouch said seriously, "But I don't think you'd want to know."

Kallen scowled and opened her mouth, presumably to say something rude, when she caught Suzaku's eye. She paused, blinking.

Suzaku and Rivalz stood awkwardly by the door.

"Er, hi?" Rivalz said.

Lelouch turned towards them, surprised, and Suzaku finally got to see his face. He was...pretty, to say the least. He was thin, with startlingly violet eyes, and his expressions were guarded, but he looked a lot less threatening than Suzaku had expected.

"What're you up to today?" Rivalz tried, a failed attempt at sounding casual.

Lelouch glared at him. "What do you want, Rivalz?"

Rivalz shrank back. "Milly told me you needed a flatmate," he said weakly. "I found a guy."

Lelouch turned towards Suzaku as if noting his presence for the first time. Suzaku smiled at him brightly, but it faltered a bit when he noticed how confused the smile made the detective. Perhaps he wasn't used to being smiled at. Or maybe while he was out of the country smiling had gone out of fashion.

…right. That was likely.

He held out his hand towards the other man. "Suzaku Kururugi, retired surgeon from the British Army," he said.

Lelouch took the hand hesistantly. "Lelouch Lamperouge. You're looking for a place to stay?"

Suzaku nodded.

Lelouch turned away, hiding his face from view. "221B, Baker Street. Look at it whenever you have time." He didn't sound very pleased, and seemed more resigned than inviting.

Kallen, on the other hand, seemed outright suspicious. "Why the hell are you getting a flatmate?" She asked Lelouch, eying Suzaku warily. "You'll drive him insane."

Lelouch frowned, but made no move to protest. "It's Milly's fault," he said. "She thinks I'll drive myself insane without one."

_Better you than me_, Suzaku wanted to say, but he kept his mouth shut. "I'll come over in the evening," he said. "Will you be free then?"

Lelouch shook his head. "No, but Milly will let you in. Feel free to look around." He turned back to Kallen, considering the conversation closed. "So as I was saying, I need your help. Or do I need Gino to come in to give me permission?"

"You detectives," Kallen ground out through clenched teeth. "Always waltzing around the city and expecting everyone to go ahead with your every whim and fancy - "

"A man's _life_ depends on this, Kallen - "

"- _and_ if you really think I'm going to believe something like that - "

"-You're just trying to delay my work on purpose-"

"-you're not even making sense-"

Suzaku watched the argument pleasantly until Rivalz dragged him out. "Hey!"

Rivalz scowled at him. "How long are you going to watch them?"

Suzaku shrugged. "I don't know, it was interesting. Besides, don't you want to know what type of case needed such an experiment?"

Rivalz shook his head in dismay. "You'll get along with him just fine," he said.

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><p>Lelouch's room was a mess.<p>

Judging y his appearance, Suzaku had expected an immaculate room. With bare tables, clean floors...he wouldn't have been surprised if the closets were sorted by colour.

But this? This was worse than Suzaku's own room, and that was saying something. Clothes were strewn across the floor. The kitchen sink was piled with dirty dishes. The bed was unmade, the desk was a mess, and an open laptop sat on the tea table, surrounded by so many papers and files that the place looked more paper than table.

Suzaku blinked at the room, and the light on the laptop blinked right back at him.

"Please don't judge too quickly," Milly said softly from behind him. "I know this looks bad, and you're thinking he'd make a horrid roommate, but that's not true. It isn't always like this – it's usually quite clean. _Perfectly _clean."

Milly Ashford was a pretty young woman. She was too enthusiastic for her own good (but mostly for everyone else's) and had all but pounced on Suzaku and dragged him into Lelouch's room the moment he'd arrived at 221B. Now, however, she seemed solemn and a bit sad.

"It's because of his sister," she said at last, frowning. "Possibly the sweetest kid I've ever met. She used to live with him, but she left, and...well. He's been rather depressed lately."

Suzaku looked around the room again, and this time, he could see the traces of another occupant. Feminine coats and hats on the hanger, extra pairs of slippers on the shoe rack. Dishes and cutlery in two different styles.

"But why did she leave?" he asked.

Milly frowned. "It's not my story to tell. They still see each other, they just don't live together anymore. It was partly Lelouch's decision, but he's still really upset over it. That's why I wanted him to get a flatmate."

"So that he isn't lonely?"

Milly nodded. "I have to warn you, though, he isn't easy to befriend. I mean, he's polite, and he won't make you miserable unless you really get on his nerves, but he'll probably shut you out. It took me ages to get him to trust me."

Suzaku nodded. "It's okay, I'm used to that."

Milly patted him on the shoulder once. "Feel free to look around. There are only three rooms: this room, the bedroom, and the kitchen. Give me a call once you make up your mind, because I'll have to get him to move out Nunnally's stuff for you."

Suzaku nodded. "Of course," he said, and Milly turned and left down the stairs.

Suzaku eyed the room again critically. This was going to be a lot of trouble. A consulting detective with personal issues and on-and-off depression, whose sister's place Suzaku would be trying to fill?

Too much trouble. Much too much trouble.

Which was why, two hours and another caffe marocchino later, he called Milly Ashford and told her he wanted the room.

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><p>"So you're moving in," Lelouch said later that day as greeting, when Suzaku turned up on his doorstep with a suitcase, a backpack, and a .<p>

Suzaku grinned at him, noting that, once again, the action made him frown. "Of course I am!"

Lelouch sighed, stepping aside to let him in. "Very well, then. Come in."

Milly had been right. The place was now almost spotless. He tables were bare, the floors had been mopped, the sink was empty, and from what he could see of the bedroom, layers of clothes had been taken off of the floor.

Suzaku followed as Lelouch lead him to his room. All of Nunnally's stuff had been cleared out, leaving Suzaku's side of the room bare and empty. It was furnished in a typical fashion, with his bed in the corner, a desk against a wall, a lamp next to the desk, and a closet.

"I'll be in the living room if you need me," Lelouch said. "Oh, and do you know how to cook?"

Suzaku looked sheepish. "...Not really."

Lelouch nodded like he'd expected that. "I thought so. That's good. I don't like arguments in the kitchen." He stared at Suzaku for a moment as if considering something. "Dinner will be ready in a while, so I'll call you once I'm done."

"Right. Thanks."

Lelouch nodded again, sill staring at him, before shrugging and leaving the room, shutting the door softly behind him.

Well. Apparently his roommate could cook.

That was a start.

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><p>His roommate didn't just cook, as Suzaku found out later. He <em>cooked.<em>

"Wow," he said, despite himself, as he stared at the food on the table. It looked so good. And smelled so good. And there was so much. "Just, wow."

Lelouch smirked. "I thought you'd have a good appetite. Help yourself."

He thanked him and took a sea, piling his plate with food. Lelouch did the same, but he didn't sit.

"We have to lay down a few ground rules," he said, as he spooned curry onto his rice. "We take turns buying the groceries. And taking the trash out. And doing the dishes."

Suzaku nodded.

"You clean after yourself. Also, sometimes I'll have too much work to cook or I'll be home late, in which case we buy takeout."

Suzaku nodded.

"And you don't bother me when I'm working."

Suzaku nodded again.

"Sometimes I'll be up at ridiculous hours, and sometimes random people will barge into the house at ridiculous hours. You are allowed to complain, but are expected to understand that it won't change anything."

He supposed he could live with that.

Lelouch shifted his plate and gave him a stern look. "Lastly, and most importantly, if anyone ever turns up when I'm not home and claims to be related to me, you do not believe them. _On no account do you ever let such people in. _Is that understood?"

He looked pretty intimidating when he stared down at him like that. "Understood. Do I call the police?"

Lelouch almost laughed. He snorted instead and almost choked and settled for coughing and trying to breathe in the end.

"No, you don't call the police," he said at last, when he'd recovered. His eyes danced in amusement. "If only that still worked. No, you tell them I'm not home and find the quickest way to get rid of them and to escape yourself. You're from the army, aren't you? You'll figure something out."

He poured himself a glass of water and went into the bedroom carrying the glass and his plate. He shut the door softly behind him.

Suzaku stared at the door, for a while forgetting his food.

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><p><strong>Please review!<strong>


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